Nail cleaning apparatus



Nov. 27, 1945. W, THOMPSON NAIL CLEANING APPARATUS' Filed J'une 27, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet l ,mm w f -H mi www,

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BY/QHMWW- HIS ATTOR NOV 27, 1945- w. THoMPsoN NAIL CLEANING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 F'Viled June 2'7,4 1942 Q uw,

Nov. 27, 1945. w. THOMPSON NAIL CLEANING APPARATUS Filed June 27, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 0000000090 OOOOOOmOOOBOCQDOO OOOOOOPQOGOOBOOOOO 0 Y INVENToR:

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BY lsL/GTOW Nov. 27, 1945. w; THOMPSON NAIL CLEANING APPARATUS Filed June 27, 1942 4 sheets-sheet 4 VIE. E.

Patented Nov. 27, 1945 NAIL CLEANING APPARATUS .William Thompson, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, `assgnor toThe American Steel and Wire Com# pany''ofN'ewJersey,v a corporation of 't Newv J erseyV X a chargefof sawdust' whichis effective Ato collect grease;- foreign matterfand 4metallic'whiskers `frequently presentonf nails comingifrom a lmodern nail making machine.`E The Cleaning cylinder is equipped with' one orimore' spiral ns adapted 'to carry the 'nailsforward to ythe exit en'd of'the cylinder 'whichgbecauseoffthe' rotation, will move the `nails upward partly by' the'force exerted yby the gravity f ofthe 1 nails sliding' along 1I the spiral fins asthe cylinder'rotates* The-action issu'ch that the nails cascade'over'one anotherand in; termix with the sawdust orfothercleaning'agent. A scrubbing or scouring action takesl place, .and this action is augmentedy 'bythetenden'cyf of `the nails in the upperpart ofthe Irevolving cylinder to travel backward' toward the entrance' end thereof, this action being secured'inepart-byfthe conjoint action of the conical outlet head ofthe cylinder in combination with certainV scoops, hereinafter referred toin detail, and the spiral nssecured to the interiorofthe cylinder.

At its exit endthe cleaning cylinder is equipped with an improved type of closure and with special operating means whereby the closure can be opened by 'a power operated member duringithe rotation ofthecylinder. From the cleaning cylinder the nails', together with the sawdust vor other scouring agent,y arev dischargedV` into' a second revolublyfmounted'fdruni; herein' referred to' as the'screeni'ng drum.' This' 'screening drum" is so constructed'and a'rranged'that 'it will separate out'the cleaning agent and th'e'extraneou'smat ter, such as the'metallicfwhis'kers, and direct such cleansing agent and nextraneous vmatter'to respec; tive" discharge'- point's and' the cleansed nailsV to a"'-vibiatin`g"` chute 'ada'ptedto1 guide 'them to 'kegs or storage receptacles 'carrie'dfbyT aiknown form of shaking table.`

Forv a'Ax more completes disclosure of the invem tion;A reference shouldfioe 'made to the'=f11owing specification, ther accompanying: drawings"A and the appended i claims:

In the: drawings:

Figure 1`is a view-partlyrin elevation andpartly in fsection showing thee essential elements'v of 1 a nail cleaning apparatusfembodyin'g the invention;

'FiguresA 2 i is an` enlargedslongitudinalA section through' the 'cleaning cylinder'constitutng 'an'important 'element 'of` 'the 'present "invention :1,

Figure 3 is a lsectionon'line III- III of FigureZ; Figure 4 is'a section Online IV--IV' of Figure 2; Figure 5 isa' detail longitudinal section through the "screening" drum Iconstituting another of 'the essential 'coact'n'g eler'n'ents of the present linveni tient-1 Figure 61s' -a sectionon line o f Figure-i5; Figure l"7 is 'asection 0n` line of Figure Figure 8f' is' an enlarged detail section illustrating one end` ofthe screening .drum and' an adjacent portion ofa chute' adapted'to receive and? carry away the sawdust 'or"cleansing -agent ejected by the 'screening drum;

FigureiQsfan enlarged detail of aiperforated section of the screening drum; and

Figure 107 is avview of the' cover'plate for'the perforated section of `Figure 9;

lteferring'inl detail vto the drawings, in the normal use of the device ofthe present invention a' given 'batchof nails; for example; say' about 1500 pounds, are loaded into a portable container-"such as'indicated at I'in Figure 1 and 'transported by any suitablemeans 'to the nail cleaning apparatus and placed on racks 2 which' are pivotally mounted at' 2a on a'platform elevator 3'. The proper amount of'sawdust required to cean the nails` is placed on top' of 'thena'ils contained in each container. After two'containers of nails have been placed' on'the individual racks on the elevator platform, the latter is raised to -the proper level, whereupon the containers -arevtil-ted about their pivotal supports 2a untilthey rest upon av roller whichtravels vertically in `guides-5. 'Ihe movement 'of- `thisroller-is effected-by a hoist-suspended from an overhead structure support E. The hoistingropes are'trained overfupper sheaves 'land lower sheaves la and both ends `oi the rope are attached tov a verticallyl slidableV blockfto which the roller is pivoted.

As thus arranged, as the hoist ropes are'lowered,k the-rollerll will also descend.- When' the operator lowers the hoist ropes causing the roller 4 vto descend,l the nailsand the sawdust' which were placed thereon will be dumped -uponfa'- vi'- brating memberl adapted to' feed the'nails and sawdust at asubstantially. constant rate into a chute-9 which in turn directsthe same 'into the open-ing shown atl the: left end yof the` cleaning cylinder Il) iii-.Figure 12: A motoriv Il-v transmits rotary motion tothecleaning cylinder by means of asheave: i2' and- V'belt`s 13el trained' over a grooved pulley I4 carried by a jack shaft I5 mounted in suitable bearings. The shaft carries a drive pinion I6 which meshes with a gear I1 secured to the exterior of an annular end member Ha. The cleaning cylinder I is equipped with annular tires I8 which serve to revolubly mount the cylinder on a plurality of supporting rollers I9 mounted in suitable bearings. Located within the cylinder and secured to the inner substantially cylindrical shell plates thereof there is provided a pair of substantially helical fins 20 formed of stock rolled steel bars about 1/2 inch thick by 4 inches wide. The two helical ns shown are preferably located diametrically opposite one another and each extends around approximately one-fourth of the inner circumference of the cylinder while at the same time progressing longitudinally along approximately a true helical line.

In practice the speed of the motor and the proportion of the drive sheaves and pulleys shown are such that the cleaning cylinder is rotated at about 28 R. P, M. Thus as the cylinder revolves, the helical spiral ns 20 repeatedly pick up the mixture of nails and sawdust or other cleaning agent and drop them. This repeated picking up and dropping of the mixture of nails and sawdust exerts a scrubbing or cleansing action which is effective to remove any slight metallic burr or whiskers on the nails and to thoroughly mix the sawdust with the nails. Th'us this sawdust or other cleansing agent absorbs oil, grease or other foreign matter carried over on the surface of th'e nails from the nail making machine.

In practice the nails are tumbled in the cleaning cylinder I0 forapproximately 20 minutes, whereupon the cover 2| at the discharge end of the cleaning cylinder is opened. This cover is secured to and slidably supported by a shaft 22 which carries a collar 23 which is normally yieldingly pressed by springs 24 in a direction tending to hold the cover closed, At the extremity of the shaft 22 remote from the cover 2I `there is secured a disk 25. A yoke 26 secured to a vrock shaft 21 carries rollers 28 which' when the yoke is rocked counterclockwise, tends to retract the. cover to open position. For rocking the yoke the shaft 21 is provided with an operating arm 29 pivotally connected at 30 to a vertically movable member 3l arranged to be actuated by a suitable power device, such as the electrically operated thruster 32 which is pivotally mounted at 33 to a bracket 34 secured to any fixed frame member.

At the discharge end of the cleaning cylinder a plurality of scoops 35 are provided. These, as shown in ,Figures 2 and 3, are so arranged that they receive the nails sliding along the helical fins 20. These scoops are of trough-like construction, being provided with guide flanges 35 which are disposed at substantially 90 degrees to the nail carrying surface thereof. As thus arranged, upon rotation of the drum the nails will slide down the ns into the scoops whereupon continued rotary motion will dump the nailsand cleansing agent, such as sawdust mixed therewith, onto the inclined or frusto-conical surface 31' of the end closure head 38. Thus the combined action of gravity and the rotary motion of the cylinder will force the nails to crowd over one another and cause certain of them to travel countercurrent with the direction of travel of that part of the batch sliding over the fins. Thus there is a peculiar cooperative relationship between the helical fins, the inclined scoops and the oppositely inclined frusto-com'cal Surfa Q 19h@ end head 38. After each given batch of nails has been subjected to this cleansing action, the circuit controlling the operation of the thruster 32 will be closed by a simple push button controller, whereupon the shaft 21 will be rocked so as to cause the yoke 26 to transmit a sliding motion to the rod 22 against the yielding force of the springs 24. Thus the cover 2l will be moved to open position, whereupon the mixture of cleansed nails and the cleansing agent, such as sawdust or the like, will be discharged through the outlet orifice 39 formed in the casing member 40 secured to the outlet extremity of the cleaning cylinder. Thus the mixture of nails, sawdust, whiskers and removed foreign matter will be discharged to a chute 4I which in turn will empty the mixture of nails, etc., into a screening drum 42 shown in detail in Figure 5.

This screening drum in many respects is quite similar to the cleaning cylinder, being provided with tires 43-43 which ride on rollers 44 so as to rotatably support the structure. The screening drum carries a ring gear 45 meshing with a pinion 46 keyed to a shaft 41 mounted in suitable bearings 48 and carrying a grooved pulley 49 driven by a belt 50 from a grooved pulley 5I carried by the armature shaft 52 of a motor 53 whose circuit is adapted to be controlled by a conventional form of push button controller.

To thev inner surface of the screening drum there is secured a pair of diametri-cally opposed helical fins 54-54, each of which makes approximately one-fourth of a turn while progressing longitudinally of the cylinder. At their extremities the fins are adapted to coact with scoops 55-55. The cleaning cylinder carries a substantially frusto-conical end head 56, whose outlet orifice 58 is normally blocked by a closure member 59 carried by a slidably mounted rod 60 which carries a collar 6I urged to the left in Figure 5 by compression springs 62. The rod 60 at one end carries a disk 63 for coaction with a yoke 64 secured to a rock shaft 65 carrying an arm 66 pivotally connected at 61 to a member 68 adapted to be actuated by an electrically operated thruster 69 which is pivotally supported at 16 to a suitable fixed support 1I. The circuit of the truster is adapted to be opened and closed by a conventional form of push button controller. Thus the operating mechanism for the closure 59 which controls the discharge of nails from the screening drum 42 is practically identical with the mechanism controlling the operation of the cover for the cleaning cylinder previously described.

The chief difference between the cleaning cylinder and the screening drum is that the latter has a plurality of perforated sections. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, four such sections are illustrated, the same being spaced degrees apart. Theseperforated sections are each indicated generally by reference numeral 12, there being a multiplicity of perforations 13 formed in each of the sections. Secured tothe exterior of the cleaning cylinder in juxtaposition to each of the perforated sections there is a cover plate 'I4 maintained in any desired or predetermined spaced relation to the exterior of the perforated section by spacer members 15. The spacer members illustrated, as best shown in detail in Figure 9, constitute the heads of bolts 16, whose threaded Shanks are screwed into the cylindrical wall of the screening drum. The cover plates 14 are flanged'outwardly at 11 and are provided with bracket members 18 slotted for coaction withibolts 80- which -passthrough the slots and .which are `threaded .into the. shell ofthe screening drum sc ,asA to thusA hold the cover plates rinly in engagement with the spacer members 15.

In normal operation the screening drum makes approximately. 2BR; P., M. The combined action of rotation of the drum and the forward feed imparted by the fins 54 agitates the mixture of cleansed nails and sawdust or other cleaning agent. Thus as the screening drum revolves, the agitation or tumbling action eventually segregates all of the sawdust or other cleansing agent, metallic whiskers and other extraneous matter on the inside surface of the drum. Thus as the same rotates, the extraneous matter passes through the various perforated sections of the screening drum and collects in the space between the cover plates and the exterior of the drum. In short, the thoroughly cleansed nails are effectively separated from the cleansing agent and extraneous foreign matter. The sawdust or other cleansing agent and extraneous matter Ithus collected on the inner surface of the cover plates 14 slide therealong due to the rotary motion, and when such separated material reaches the edges 8| of the cover plate, it falls by gravity into the hopper-like bottom 82 of a casing 83 which encloses the screening drum. As the metallic whiskers fall out of the screening drum, they gravitate to the bottom of the hopper and eventually fall through a slot 84 and pass to a suitable container located below the hopper bottom. The sawdust is removed through an opening 85 and withdrawn through suitable conduit by means of a motor driven exhauster which carries it toa storage bin, not shown. There is a hood 86 located over the discharge end of the cleaning cylinder and a similar hood 81 located over the discharging end of the screening drum so as ,to catch any sawdust which might escape from the drum while the nails are being discharged, these hoods 86 and 81 being connected by pipes, not shown, to a suitable motor driven exhauster, not shown, which also connects with the casing 83 H After an interval of about minutes from the time a given batch of about 1500 pounds of nails is delivered to the screening drum, the closure 59 will be opened, whereupon the nails will be discharged to an inclined chute 88 which is vibrated in a known manner. This chute will deliver the nails to a plurality of kegs 89 or other shipping containers mounted on a shaking device 90 of known construction operated 9! driven by an eccentric 92 carried by shaft 93 carrying a pulley 94 which is driven by a belt 95 from a motor 96. After the kegs or other receptacles have been lled to desired capacity, they will be transferred to a shipping point on a, suitable car 91.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the described apparatus is effective to periodically receive large batches of nails which are cleaned in the continuously rotating cleaning cylinder, in which they are agitated and freed from grease and metallic whiskers or burrs resulting from a normal nail making operation. While the cleaning cylinder continues to revolve, the cleansed nails are periodically transferred to the screening drum wherein the cleansing agent is separated out and thus the final product will be in condition, having been thoroughly cleansed and ready for shipment. Any given batch of nails may be subjected to screening for a suitable time by a pitman interval which vis dependentjlargely upon thegsize of the'nails., Itwill be `understood that forl differsent. sizes of nails, holes of diierent sizes may be used in the'perforated sections,v Also the distance between the cover plates and the exterior ofthe screening drum. may be varied by inserting spacer elements of different thicknesses to suit the particular product being handled.

While I have described quite precisely the construction and arrangement of an apparatus which an actual reduction to practice has shown to be very efficient, it is not to be construed that I am limited thereto since various modifications and substitutions of equivalents may be made by those skilled in the art without departure from the underlying features of the invention as defined with particularity in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for cleaning nails comprising a rotary cleaning cylinder having helical ns therein, means for feeding a batch of nails and a cleansing agent into said cylinder, flanged scoops located in the cylinder in endwise abutting relation to said fins, a head at the outlet end of the cylinder having a converging annular wall, said scoops extending along said wall and the latter being adapted to receive said nails and cleansing agent dumped from said scoops as the cylinder rotates and to reverse the direction of travel thereof whereby the forwardly falling mass from the scoops is caused to cascade over the rearwardly falling mass sliding down said converging wall to thus cause a vigorous scouring interaction to take place between the vnails and the cleansing agent.

2. Apparatus for cleaning nails comprising a rotary cylinder, helical fins on the interior surface thereof, scoops located in the cylinder in position to receive nails propelled forwardly by said fins, said scoops having inwardly vextending flanges whereby they are effective to temporarily retain an appreciable bulk of nails delivered thereto by said fins, a substantially frusto-conical head secured to the outlet end of said cylinder and adapted to reverse the direction of travel of the nails dumped thereon whereby the forwardly falling mass discharged from the scoops is caused to cascade over the rearwardly falling mass sliding down the inner face of said frustoconical head.

3. Apparatus for cleaning nails comprising a rotary cleaning cylinder having helical ns therein, means for feeding a batch of nails and a cleansing agent into said cylinder, flanged scoops located in the cylinder in position for coaction with said ns, a head at the outlet end of the cylinder having a converging annular wall adapted to receive said nails and cleansing agent dumped from said scoops as the cylinder rotates, said scoops abutting the ends of said fins and extending along said converging annular wall, a cover controlling the discharge of said nails and cleaning agent from Said cylinder, a slidable support for said cover adapted to be moved longitudinally toward and from said cylinder, a power operated device, and connections between said device and said support whereby opening or closing movements can be transmitted to said cover while the cylinder is rotating.

4. Apparatus for cleaning nails comprising a screening drum, means for rotatably supporting the same, said drum having a plurality of spaced perforated sections, helical fins within the drum adapted to cause the nails and cleansing agent to move longitudinally of the drum as the latter rotates, scoops in abutting relation to and receiving nails directly from said ns, a substantially frusto-conical head secured to the outlet end of the screening drum and encircling said scoops, a closure member normally blocking the outflow of nails from the screening drum, power actuated means for moving the closure member to open position, a chute positioned to receive nails discharged from the screening drum and direct them to a suitable storage receptacle, and a member for receiving the cleaning agent discharged through the perforated sections of the drum.

WILLIAM THOMPSON. 

